


Pins and Needles

by Aleph_Null, PageofD



Series: Blood & Stone, Inc (tattoos, piercings, etc) [1]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, And light Smut, Angst, Body Modification, Genital Piercing, M/M, Misunderstandings, Needles, Now With Added Fluff!, Piercings, Tattoos, additional warnings in final chapter, and complete smut, in this au Desert Bluffs Carlos is Joaquin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-10
Packaged: 2018-08-29 00:11:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8468362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aleph_Null/pseuds/Aleph_Null, https://archiveofourown.org/users/PageofD/pseuds/PageofD
Summary: “Well then,” Kevin said with a flourish, “drop trou and lie back.  I won’t be a moment.”“Everything?” Carlos blurted.Kevin, who had started to turn to gather his things, faced him again.  “Why, yes,” he purred with a gleam in his eye.“I mean - I mean, boxers and all?”“Yes.  You don’t want me to have a cluttered playing field, trust me.”-----Carlos gets a piercing to surprise Cecil - it doesn't go well.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a collab with the brilliant [PageofD](http://archiveofourown.org/users/PageofD/pseuds/PageofD)! We've been yelling back and forth about a tattoo/piercing parlour AU for a week or two, and it all came to a head with this. Maybe he will come in and write some notes; I'm not too good at them. If you like what you see, check out the rest of our works (especially his!) and check us out on tumblr under [lonelyboyinthelab](http://lonelyboyinthelab.tumblr.com/) and [oh-fanon-my-canon](http://oh-fanon-my-canon.tumblr.com). We will be updating as work and school schedules allow.

Kevin worked his newly cleaned hands into the latex gloves he had removed earlier, the tools of his trade spread on paper towels inside autoclave pouches on the stainless steel counter behind him.  Now that Carlos took a good look at the jewelry he had chosen alongside the needles and other accoutrements Kevin was going to be using  _ on him _ , probably still wearing that extra wide and unsettling grin, he wondered if he had been a little too cocky - ahaha, no pun intended, and even in his head, his laughter sounded a little on the hysterical side.

But no.  He had done plenty of research - he was very good at research - and had deduced that, once the healing period was over, the benefits appeared to far outweigh the trauma of the actual procedure, and he wanted to surprise Cecil.  Also, kind of cool.  If this went well, he’d be interested in doing more than just the one frenum.

“All right,” said Kevin, and his grin widened to show every single one of his teeth, and Carlos had to repress a shudder.  His eyes flicked down to Carlos’s groin.  “Are you ready?”

Taking a deep breath, he nodded.

“Well then,” Kevin said with a flourish, “drop trou and lie back.  I won’t be a moment.”

“Everything?” Carlos blurted.

Kevin, who had started to turn to gather his things, faced him again.  “Why, yes,” he purred with a gleam in his eye.

“I mean - I mean, boxers and all?”

“Yes.  You don’t want me to have a cluttered playing field, trust me.”  His tone was just a touch more professional now, and Carlos remembered that this was his actual  _ job _ .  “I’ve done hundreds of these, there’s no need to worry.  You won’t be maimed or anything - unless that’s what you’re  _ really _ going for,” he added with a little more glee than Carlos thought necessary.  He started transferring his tools to a surgery cart while he was speaking.  “I could hook you up, you know.  I have lots of experience, and some  _ very fun _ ideas.”

Carlos closed his eyes and didn’t reply.  Even replying with something normal would only bait him, and so his hands moved to the button of his jeans and slid them open, tugging down the zip as he leaned back against the table.  In one motion, he pushed down both his jeans and boxers, gritting his teeth and wondering if he dared to look at Kevin.

He didn’t want to, but he had to.  He probably could keep his eyes closed the whole time, but a small part of his mind was  _ fascinated _ by this process, and he wanted to see as much as he could.  He peeked through one eyelid as Kevin wheeled the tray over to the table.

“Well now,” Kevin said, and did he think that misshapen grin couldn’t grow any wider?  Because he had been wrong.  “That wasn’t so bad, was it?  See what you can do if you just  _ stay positive _ ?”  He was staring openly at Carlos’s flaccid dick, and Carlos felt the insane urge to cover himself when Kevin’s split tongue darted out to lick his lips.  “I can see why my brother likes you.   _ Very  _ impressive.”

“Just - dispense with the commentary and get on with it,” Carlos muttered, his face burning.

“Then lie back - and enjoy.”  He started humming a jaunty little tune as Carlos eased himself back on the table, his trousers catching on its edge and ending up closer to his ankles than he had really wanted, but there was no point in fixing it now.  Kevin came around to his right side and lifted his shirt up and away, putting in its place a sterile cloth with a hole in the middle.  Carlos wondered bizarrely if he should have shaved for this.  Then, (and he didn’t know why he was surprised by this) Kevin reached through the hole in the cloth with two gloved fingers, gently grasping his dick and pulling it through so it would lie, accessible and exposed, under the flourescent lights.

He couldn’t watch.  He let his head fall back, his fingers drumming a nervous tattoo on his chest, as he felt Kevin handling him with impartiality.  This had to be the most surreal experience he’d ever had outside of a doctor’s office, and he didn’t even have the benefit of Kevin being a total stranger to make it less awkward.  He felt a little pinch on the skin just behind the head, and he glanced down briefly.

“Just finding the best spot,” Kevin said soothingly, but he was anything but reassured.  He knew he ought to be relaxing - deep breathing, thinking about kittens, anything other than the twelve gauge needle about to go through his skin in such a delicate area - but he dared not let his guard down, not around Kevin, not even while he seemed to be acting so…  _ normal _ .  There was the cold, rough pressure of an alcohol filled cotton ball all along his length.   _ Lie back and think of England _ , he thought, a little giddily.  He felt Kevin pinch again, but the pressure didn’t let up as his free hand grabbed something from the tray with a clatter.  A moment later, the gloved fingers were replaced by cool metal, clamping the spot and working it back and forth as, he assumed, Kevin further inspected the spot for suitability.

“Excellent,” Kevin said at last, and Carlos let out his breath.  He could hear a tattoo machine buzzing somewhere across the hall and wondered exactly how much time he had before Cecil was done with his current piece.  “You know, I’ve seen a lot of dicks in my life, but you-”

“Save it,” Carlos said.  Kevin gave a high-pitched laugh that lasted just a little too long.

“I was just thinking,” he continued as his fingers hovered over the things on the table, his pitch black eyes darting to Carlos’s face.  “Since you’re a regular here, and you  _ are _ dating my  _ dear brother _ , I could probably knock a little off your price.  You know, because you’re such a  _ good customer _ .”

“It’s not like you don’t get a tip.”

“I’ve got the tip,” Kevin said, waggling the clamp a little so the skin slipped and slid.  “Right here.”  This outlandish comment didn’t quite distract Carlos from the gleam of silver in his other hand: the needle, ready to do its job.  He gripped the side of the table with one hand, the other clutching the fabric of his shirt.

“Just - come on, Kevin, just do it.”

The piercer complied, leaning over Carlos’s groin and setting the tip of the needle on one side of the clamp.  “All right - on the count of three, love.  One - two -”

Carlos had just started to tense when he felt the needle slide smoothly through his skin, in one side and out the other in a split second.  “ _ Jesus holy fucking shit christ _ ,” Carlos hissed, squeezing his eyes shut.  His pulse battered against the new wound; it felt like lightning, striking his groin and spreading steadily through his extremities until his fingers and toes were tingling.  He felt heady, suddenly, a little dizzy, and was glad he was lying down.

“That’s it, that’s good, you’re fine,” Kevin was saying, his voice calm and quiet as he carefully disentangled the clamp from the needle.  “Just another moment and you’ll be done.”

“Oh my god,” Carlos breathed through the endorphin rush.  “You said on three, you bastard!  Fuck.”

“Well, if you insist, I wouldn’t say no,” said Kevin, picking up the barbell’s wrapper and tearing it open.  “Just another moment now, you’re fine, sweet Carlos.”

“Don’t fucking call me that,” he snarled, but vaguely.  Only Cecil could call him that.  Only Cecil could put adjectives in front of his name while addressing him.  He suddenly felt dirty, sullied by the touch of Kevin’s fingers where only Cecil’s belonged.

“Of course.”  In a flash, the needle was replaced by the barbell, its end screwed in place, and the next thing he knew, Kevin was wrapping the fresh piercing in gauze and stripping his gloves off.  “All done!” he said brightly.  “You just lay there as long as you need to, okay?  There’s no rush to get you off  _ my _ table.”

Carlos sat up, slowly, to avoid a head rush.  He ran the fingers of one hand shakily through his hair, not caring if it was mussed right now, and looked down at his groin.  He wished he had been able to see it before Kevin wrapped it, but between just regular showering and aftercare, it wasn’t like he wasn’t ever going to see it again.  “That’s it?” he murmured, sliding carefully towards the edge of the table.  He was especially eager to get his pants back on.

“Not so bad, was it?”

“No,” Carlos said truthfully.  Oh, he understood now how people could get addicted to piercings.  It was a different feeling from getting a tattoo, much shorter and less sustained, but what a  _ rush _ ; his  _ teeth _ were  _ buzzing _ .

“It was even a little wonderful, wasn’t it?”  Kevin was suddenly too close, his words hot on Carlos’s ear.  He jerked away a little too quickly and lost his balance, but before he could fall entirely, Kevin caught him by the upper arms, shifting him so that they were standing face to face.

No matter how he felt, he wasn’t going to admit it to Kevin.  This was the first piercing he’d gotten from his boyfriend’s brother, and he vowed that it would be the last.  He brushed Kevin’s hands away and bent down to retrieve his trousers from around his ankles.

“Kevin, I’m going to go and get lunch,” came a new voice - a familiar voice - oh shit.  Carlos struggled with his jeans, trying to be careful but also extremely quick, and in doing so jostled his new piercing.  He couldn’t help it; he let out a little yelp of pain, just as his boyfriend rapped on the doorframe and walked in without waiting for a response.  “Do you want any… anything…”

Carlos couldn’t see his face, but he could imagine what this scene must look like:  Kevin grinning like a maniac, one hand still on Carlos’s shoulder; Carlos half bent, having just made a sound that could sound sexual in another context, and, most damning, with his ass hanging out.

“Cecil!  Yes, I would like some lunch, and I bet Carlos would, too,” Kevin said, rolling the ‘r’ in his name and shifting his hips to one side.  “He’s just had a very  _ exhausting _ ordeal.”

Carlos finally managed to pull his jeans up over his hips, his face hot with embarrassment and shame.  Why Cecil couldn’t have waited just another couple of minutes, why Kevin had to be… well,  _ Kevin _ , why he had put himself in this situation in the first place…

“Cecil, hi,” he said, turning around with the largest smile he could muster under the circumstances, but he may as well have not bothered.  Cecil was looking thunderous - no,  _ murderous _ \- his fist still extended where it had knocked against the doorframe moments before.

“What - the  _ hell _ -”

“It’s not - Ceec, it’s not what it looks -”

“ _ What does it look like? _ ”

He had never heard this tone of voice from his boyfriend, and he quailed a little under the ferocity of his stare.  His eyes were darting back and forth between Carlos and his brother, trying to put pieces together that lined up in any way but the most obvious - the most terrible.

“I got a piercing!” Carlos blurted.  “I wanted to surprise you and we thought you’d -”

“Oh, you  _ thought I’d _ .  A piercing?  A genital piercing?”  He fixed his glare on Kevin.  “Really Kevin?   _ Really _ ?”

Kevin spread his hands in an innocent ‘who, me?’ gesture.  “It was his idea,” he said sweetly.

“ _Carlos_ , Kevin!”  Cecil flung his hands in the air, then clutched at his hair.  “I can’t,” he said, “I can’t deal with you right now.”  And with that, he turned on his heel and stormed away.  A moment later, the little bell over the shop door jingled, and the door slammed shut.

There was a ringing silence left in Cecil’s wake, which Kevin broke by pointing towards Carlos’s jeans, still flapping open from the button and fly.  “Do you need some help with that, or…”

“Fuck off, Kevin,” Carlos snapped, and he did up his jeans as he raced after his boyfriend.  He would pay for the piercing when -  _ if _ \- he could make this right.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Cecil!” He called, rounding the corner to the stairs to Kevin and Cecil’s apartment, just above their shop, and watching helplessly as Cecil stomped up the stairs and resolutely ignored Carlos’ calls. “Cecil, please.” Carlos tried again, hesitating at the foot of the stairs as Cecil fumbled with his keys, his hands shaking so much it took him three tries to get his key into the lock, before finally getting the door open, throwing Carlos an icy, vicious glare as he stepped through the door, slamming it behind him with such force it bounced open again before the latch could catch.
> 
> “Don’t worry about him, he’s just being melodramatic.” Kevin said from behind Carlos, startling the other and laughing as he jumped.
> 
> “Kevin. I need you to leave before I punch you in the face.” Carlos said through gritted teeth as he walked away from the other and up the stairs slowly, following Cecil’s path and ignoring the way Kevin was calling after him.
> 
> \--  
> Arguments and shouting and angst, Oh My!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello yes hi!  
> We are back with Chapter 2  
> (maybe we should name these hmmmm)  
> this one takes the angst from the first part and ramps it up to 11 so all aboard the pain train amirite? haha  
> anyway  
> as always, comments and kudos are appreciated!  
> Please don't hesitate to come screaming into our tumblr ask boxes!  
> I'm [Lonelyboyinthelab](http://lonelyboyinthelab.tumblr.com) and He's [Oh-fanon-my-canon](http://oh-fanon-my-canon.tumblr.com)  
> Enjoy the fic, we love you and  
> hey  
> thanks :)

Carlos ran through the store, following the trail of strewn papers left in Cecil’s wake, and out the front door, hearing the bell’s frantic jingling as he let the door slam shut behind him. 

“Cecil!” He called, rounding the corner to the stairs to Kevin and Cecil’s apartment, just above their shop, and watching helplessly as Cecil stomped up the stairs and resolutely ignored Carlos’ calls. “Cecil, please.” Carlos tried again, hesitating at the foot of the stairs as Cecil fumbled with his keys, his hands shaking so much it took him three tries to get his key into the lock, before finally getting the door open, throwing Carlos an icy, vicious glare as he stepped through the door, slamming it behind him with such force it bounced open again before the latch could catch.

“Don’t worry about him, he’s just being melodramatic.” Kevin said from behind Carlos, startling the other and laughing as he jumped.

“Kevin. I need you to leave before I punch you in the face.” Carlos said through gritted teeth as he walked away from the other and up the stairs slowly, following Cecil’s path and ignoring the way Kevin was calling after him.

“Aw, come on Carlos! You  _ know _ he’s overreacting!” Kevin called after Carlos as he disappeared through the apartment door, closing it firmly behind him and walking past the kitchen and dining table, making a right in the hallway and going to open Cecil’s door only to find it locked, for the first time in at least as long as he had been dating the tattoo artist.

“Cecil, honey, can we talk about this?” Carlos pleaded through the door, leaning his head against the painted wood and sighing softly to himself.

“I don’t know. How about you talk to  _ Kevin _ about it?” Cecil huffed, slamming a door shut inside and making Carlos flinch, especially when he heard the low laugh from behind him that signalled that Kevin had arrived to the show.

“It’s not what it looked like and you know it, Ceec.” Carlos called, jumping backwards when the door was pulled open, Cecil breezing past icily while pulling on a jacket.

“Sure.  _ Sure. _ ” Cecil said, smacking Kevin with his shoulder when his twin tried to block the way out of the hallway.

“Aww CeeCee, don’t be like that.” Kevin pouted, watching Cecil go and waiting for the door to slam shut before turning back to Carlos with a mischievous grin stretching unnervingly across his face. “Soo… whatcha thinking of doing while Mr Drama Queen huffs it out in the streets?” Kevin asked, slinking closer to Carlos and fluttering his lashes. “Cause I know a  _ lot _ of things you can do, even during the healing period.”

“Fuck  _ off _ , Kevin.” Carlos growled, whirling away and shutting himself in Cecil’s room, falling face-first onto his bed and screaming, muffled, into the blankets to cover whatever kind of lewd remark Kevin was probably calling through the door.

Carlos laid like that for a while, too long really, with his hips angled just so, to ease the pressure on his groin and the freshly-pierced flesh there. He surfaced just once, when the air he was exhaling built up too much and he felt like he was going to suffocate, but even then it took him a self reminder of his unfinished degree and plans to move away, to somewhere bigger and better with Cecil, to allow himself to breathe. 

He will admit, not even under much pressure, that getting his boyfriend’s twin, who had been hitting on him since he and Cecil had started dating, to pierce his dick had probably not been the smartest idea he’d ever had. But he hadn’t known it would make Cecil  _ that _ mad.

Carlos wriggled around gingerly, reaching to tug his phone from his pocket to text Cecil. ‘Ceec, please come back. I want to talk about this.’ He sent, and it wasn’t long until he got a reply, a long, caps-locked mess of letters and symbols, not legible as English.

Carlos sighed and set his phone aside. If Cecil wasn’t replying with words it was going to be hours still until he would feel calm enough to come back, though texting was more of a slippery slope. That would depend more on who he ran into while he was out, and if he got any coffee or not.

When Carlos received an understandable text not even five minutes later, he sent a silent prayer to whatever God was listening in thanks that Cecil had run into Dana. Or Maureen. Only one of those two could make him calm down enough to text properly this quickly.

‘I don’t want to talk, Carlos,’ the text read. ‘I am hurt and upset and I need you to leave my apartment now.’

Carlos sighed and pushed himself upright, grabbing his phone and leaving Cecil’s room, not looking at Kevin as he passed him in the kitchen, beelining instead for the coatrack and tugging on his jacket before he stepped outside.

‘I’m gone. I am sorry, Cecil. Please, let’s talk about this.’ Carlos sent to Cecil, sniffling a little as he trudged down the road.

‘I can’t.’ Cecil sent, following up a moment later with another message that sent a tentative wave of relief through Carlos. ‘Not just yet.’ 

 

“I just... I don’t… I  _ can’t _ .” Cecil sobbed, dropping his head to the table and exhaling shakily. 

Dana sighed and sipped at her coffee, patting Cecil’s shoulder slightly awkwardly. “I’m sure it is exactly what they said it was, Cecil. You know Carlos wouldn’t cheat on you. That man adores you.”

“That doesn’t mean  _ Kevin _ wouldn’t, though.” Cecil snarled, looking up and glaring through Dana. “He’s wanted Carlos for almost as long as I have.”

“You probably need to talk to Kevin, but Cecil,” Dana squeezed at Cecil’s shoulder, making him meet her eyes before continuing. “Don’t do anything stupid. Remember Earl? Don’t drive Carlos off the same way.”

Cecil sighed and slumped forwards, his hands fisting and crushing his empty coffee cup. “You know that wasn’t my fault. That was all Kevin.” Cecil growled, glaring  _ at _ Dana this time.

“Don’t you start that, you were just as much to blame as he was, Cecil.” Dana said forcefully, chasing down Cecil’s gaze as he tried to look away. “Now go home and talk to your brother like the adult you are. Okay?” 

Cecil huffed and frowned, playing with the lip of his crumpled coffee cup.

“Cecil.” Dana sighed, grabbing the man’s chin and making him look at her.

“I won’t make any promise I can’t keep.” Cecil snapped, tearing his chin from her hand and standing from his seat. “But I will  _ try _ to keep it adult.” Dana nodded, satisfied until Cecil continued under his breath. “I won’t let him drive my Carlos away. Not like before.”

“ _ Cecil Gershwin Palmer _ .” Dana sighed again, pinching the bridge of her nose and squeezing her eyes shut. “I swear to God Cecil. One day I’m going to smack some sense into you.” Dana heard a shuffle of cloth and the scrape of a chair across the floor and when she opened her eyes Cecil was gone. “Good fucking riddance. I hope they kill each other.” She muttered sullenly, glaring into the dregs of her coffee and cursing silently.

 

Carlos took the scenic route home, which for him meant walking around Cecil and Kevin’s block three times before shuffling down a few blocks and circling his own, not quite ready to commit to the warmth of his own home despite the not quite pain, but distinct discomfort of walking with a fresh piercing. On the second lap of his block he was joined by his brother, Joaquin coming out in tracksuit pants and pulling on a hoodie as he jogged to catch up with Carlos.

“What’s up Carlos?” He asked, slinging an arm around Carlos’ shoulders and tugging him in close to press their heads together. 

“Nothing.” Carlos grumbled, trying to shrug Joaquin off him.

“You only do laps of the block when there’s something bothering you. I know you little brother.” Joaquin said, a wolfish grin sliding into place as he turned around to walk backwards in front of Carlos.

“I’m literally five minutes younger than you Joaquin.” Carlos sighed, making to cross the road to get away from his brother, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder and a call of his name.

“Carlos, please.” Joaquin said, hand on his hip and eyes rolling. “I  _ do _ know that something is bothering you. Come inside, I’ll make hot chocolate the way Mama used to.” Carlos hesitated, wary of Joaquin being kind for no apparent reason, but relented, letting Joaquin wrap his arm around Carlos’ shoulders and guide him home.

“Fine, but don’t expect me to tell you anything just because you made me hot chocolate.” Carlos said, huffing heavily but relaxing slightly when Joaquin laughed, bright and loud, tossing his head back with the sound.

“Of course, little brother. Of course.” Joaquin said, slapping Carlos’ shoulder with his hand and pushing him ahead through the front door.

 

Kevin was just finishing the last of his tea when the door was kicked open. Not literally, but it might as well have been for how hard it swung and then rebounded off the wall into the interloper’s waiting hand.

“ _ Kevin. _ ” Cecil growled, voice dripping with menace as he stepped into the apartment and let the door swing  shut behind him.

“Please, Cecil, don’t slam the door. I’ve had a  _ dreadful _ headache all afternoon, not even darling Carlos’ dulcet tones could help.” Kevin drawled, leaning backwards in his seat to kick his feet up onto the table.

“You do  _ not _ get to call him that, Kevin.” Cecil snarled, stalking around the bench to loom over his twin. “And you should  _ not _ have touched him! Not like that! Not without maybe  _ telling me _ .” Cecil shouted, slamming his hand on the bench for emphasis. “This isn’t a game, Kevin. You  _ should _ have sent him somewhere else for it.” 

“Why should I have?” Kevin frowned.

“Because he’s my boyfriend? Because  _ you _ , as much as I wish otherwise, are my brother. Not to mention the fact you’ve been hitting on him for how long now? Since we got together! And, conspicuously, not before that!” Cecil huffed, frowning at Kevin. “And besides, do the words ‘conflict of interest’ ring any bells to you?”

“Hmmm, let me think…” Kevin hummed, stroking his chin. “‘Conflict of interest’, like ooh,  _ giving your new boyfriend tattoos on the cheap _ ? Hmm?” Kevin raised a brow at Cecil in a pointed look. “Well, CeeCee?”

“That’s entirely different and you know it!” Cecil spluttered indignantly. “I’m entirely professional when I’m working on him and I will have you know I have  _ never _ touched his dick at work. But! That’s irrelevant, this is not about what I do and do not do, but rather what you  _ should not have done to Carlos without talking to me first _ .” Cecil hissed, going back to glaring at Kevin, still seated nonchalantly.

“Ceec, he’s an adult, you know. He can make his own decisions without your input. He  _ should _ make decisions without your input. Ugh” Kevin groaned, swinging himself out of his chair and ducking under Cecil’s arms. “He came to me, you should have seen him when he first tried to bring it up, all blushing and stammering like ‘Do you think Ceec will like it? You’re not gonna make it weird are you Kevin? Please, put your hands  _ allllll over _ my dick and stick a needle into my skin. It’ll be  _ so hot _ .’” Kevin said, pitching his voice high in a deliberately poor mimicry of Carlos, and grinning when Cecil let out an animal noise of pure rage.

“That is NOT what happened. I KNOW Carlos. I KNOW he would not do that to me!” Cecil cried, whirling around to face Kevin, face contorted in rage. “Besides, this isn’t even about  _ him _ right now. This is about  _ you _ , Kevin.”

“Oohh? Is it now? Pray tell,  _ darling brother _ , just how this is about me, and not about your charming little boyfriend asking me to put my hands all over him.” Kevin smirked and leaned against the bench behind him, crossing his arms over his chest. “Because, honestly? It seems like you’ve still got some nasty little hangups about what happened with Earl.” Kevin pushed off the bench and stalked the few steps across the kitchen to jab Cecil in the chest with a slim finger. “And it seems like you’re  _ afraid _ that Carlos likes me better. Just. Like. Earl. Did.” 

Cecil took a deep breath and let it out in an angry sigh. “Carlos does not like you better, and neither did Earl. They  _ both _ think you’re creepy and unnatural.” Cecil kept his voice low and filled with venom, pressing forwards until he was pressed chest-to-chest with Kevin. “This is about how  _ you _ can’t ever want anything for yourself.  _ You _ only want Carlos because  _ I _ wanted him first. And it was  _ exactly the same  _ with Earl.” Kevin scoffed and stepped away from Cecil. 

“Yeah, right. Whatever makes you feel more secure in yourself, CeeCee.”  Kevin backed further away from his brother, circling around the bench with fingertips dancing across the surface. “See, here’s what _I_ think. _I_ think you’re envious of how _different_ I’ve made myself. _I_ _think_ that you know exactly how _boring_ you are, compared to me, and you’re afraid of it.” Kevin leaned across the bench, leering at Cecil. “And above all, _I think_ you’re jealous that Carlos asked me to touch his dick, likely before he asked _you_ to.” 

Cecil spluttered and gaped, stumbling over himself as he tried to find the words to respond. “That is  _ so _ not what is going on here and you’re delusional if you think it is!” Cecil cried, nearly lunging across the bench at Kevin. “What  _ is  _ going on here is that  _ you _ are jealous that Earl liked me back, and now that  _ Carlos _ likes me, hell maybe he even loves me. But that’s not the point. The point is that you’re a  _ freak, _ Kevin! Earl could see it when we were kids and now you’ve made your outsides match your messed-up insides you’re scared that no one will ever want you the way Carlos wants me, the way  _ Earl wanted me _ , and so instead of getting a boyfriend for yourself you set about trying to steal my boyfriends instead!” Cecil finished, panting heavily and glaring forcefully at Kevin who was only smirking, leaning against the bench with one hand. “So fuck the hell off, Kevin, and leave Carlos alone.” Cecil didn’t wait around to hear anything else that Kevin had to say, storming off towards his room instead, but he wasn’t quite fast enough to miss Kevin’s parting remark.

“Yeah, you go ahead and sulk, Cecil, I’ll just be here comforting your boyfriend for you.” 

Kevin was still grinning, even as Cecil returned, hands in fists by his sides until he was in reach of Kevin, where he stopped, glaring at his brother. “ _ Fuck you. _ ” Cecil hissed, raising his fist and punching Kevin in the face, leaving a mark so red it was practically glowing across his cheekbone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Carlos didn’t even flinch when something small whizzed past his face, staring blankly down at his phone, silent but for a few useless texts for nearly three days. Things like ‘Ugh’ and ‘Steve Carlsbeeerrrrrrrrrrgggggggg’ at least let him know Cecil was alive and thinking of him, but though he asked every couple of hours how Cecil was doing, if they could talk, where he was, there was nothing more forthcoming."
> 
> \-----  
> A little more talking, a little more introspection, a little more John Cusack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so we're still figuring out how to collab, haha.  
> This is pretty much a 50/50 hybrid, we typed it together for the most part.  
> As always, feel free to come chat with us, me at [oh-fanon-my-canon](http://oh-fanon-my-canon.tumblr.com) and him at [lonelyboyinthelab](http://lonelyboyinthelab.tumblr.com)
> 
> and hey  
> we appreciate you

“Hey.”

Carlos didn’t even flinch when something small whizzed past his face, staring blankly down at his phone, silent but for a few useless texts for nearly three days.  Things like ‘Ugh’ and ‘Steve Carlsbeeerrrrrrrrrrgggggggg’ at least let him know Cecil was alive and thinking of him, but though he asked every couple of hours how Cecil was doing, if they could talk, where he was, there was nothing more forthcoming.  He knew it seemed desperate, or needy, or insecure, but in all honesty, he didn’t care; Cecil was the best thing that had happened to him in a long time, and he couldn’t stand the idea that something he had done could drive them so completely apart.

“Carlos.  Hey.”

Another small item flew by, then another.  He sighed, unlocked his phone, and checked his texts again, finding nothing but his long stream of messages to Cecil.  With a groan, he slumped forward over the kitchen table, resting his head on his forearms.

_ WHUMPF _

Something large and soft collided with the side of his head.  “Hey!” he cried, startling up from his despondent posture, staring in disbelief at the pillow on the ground - one from his bed, he was annoyed to note.  “What the hell, Joaquin?”

“I thought you were dying,” his brother said, sauntering over to the kitchen table and taking the seat opposite him, a bag of unshelled peas in one hand and a bowl half filled with their innards in the other.  He set them down on top of the table and continued the tedious, soothing activity of shelling the peas into the bowl.  The snap-snap-snap-plop rhythm was calming, reminding him of the warm, fragrant kitchen of their childhood, filled with soft chatter and loud laughter.  Carlos, surprised and a little embarrassed, felt tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, and he hurriedly looked away from his brother, lest memories of their mother and aunts and grandmothers combined with this separation from Cecil reduce him to a sobbing wreck.

“Well, I’m not,” he said a little thickly.  “I’m fine.”

Joaquin snorted, discarding another shell and pointedly focusing on the next one.  “Yeah, ‘fine.’  Sure.  You’ve never been more transparent, little brother, and let me tell you, that’s saying something.  I haven’t seen you so glum since Mom accidentally threw out your science books when we were eight.”

“Would you stop that,” Carlos muttered under his breath, checking his text messages again.

“It’s been almost thirty years; I’m not going to stop now.”  Smug bastard; he knew Carlos hated it when he pointed out that Carlos was the younger twin.  It was simple logic:  both of them couldn’t come out at the same time, physics wouldn’t allow for it.  He didn’t think he’d mind quite so much if it didn’t seem to give Joaquin such joy to remind him of it at every opportunity.  “By the way, where’s your new piece?” Joaquin said.  “You’d mentioned your boyfriend was going to do up a custom design for you, hadn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Carlos said grudgingly.  Upon describing a piece he’d wanted for a very long time to Cecil, his boyfriend had gone at his sketchpad with mad enthusiasm, waxing rhapsodic about the colours, the structure, the hours he would put in under the needle.  To be honest, Cecil had seemed even more excited than Carlos - but that was almost two weeks ago, before Carlos had screwed up so monumentally.  “He… hasn’t gotten around to it yet.”

Joaquin snorted and wiped his hands on a paper towel left over from dinner the night before.  He folded his fingers together and propped his chin up on them, resting his elbows on the table.  “Trouble in paradise?”

Carlos let out a long groan and let his head thump back onto the table.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” said his brother, returning to the peas.  “Tell me what happened,” he added coaxingly, and the snap-snap-snap-plop rhythm spoke again to his animal brain, clinging to the familiarity of the dinner table scene as he related the whole story - the parts he knew anyway.  Joaquin listened impassively, as he so often did, as Carlos described Cecil and Kevin’s often strained relationship, Kevin’s inappropriate advances, the piercing he’d gotten and Cecil’s reaction.  When he finished, he didn’t feel better, but he felt something; lighter, maybe?

“That’s a hell of a situation you’ve gotten yourself into, little bro,” Joaquin said.  “Did you say it’s on your -”

“ _ Thanks _ ,” Carlos cut in.  “Yes, I did say that.”

Joaquin let out a low whistle.  “Oh boy.”  A pause.  “And Kevin is the one who -”

“ _ Does the extreme body modifications, yes _ ,” Carlos ground out.  “You asked; you must have had a reason.  Well, I’ve ‘fessed up.  Now it’s your turn.”

Chuckling, Joaquin set aside the now-empty bag of unshelled peas and leaned forward over the table, leaning hard on his forearms and fixing Carlos with a hard stare.  “You fucked up,” he said simply.  “Why the  _ hell _ would you go to your boyfriend’s brother, who looks just like him -”

“Not anymore,” Carlos muttered.

“- and who would like you to hold him down and -”

“Yes, thank you,” Carlos said loudly, drowning out whatever lewd and depraved thing his brother was saying.

“- and let him hold your fucking cock in his hands while he shoved a needle through it?  My man, he was probably hard as a rock, from what you’ve told me.  You know he got off on it.”  There was a gleam in Joaquin’s eyes that said he didn’t entirely disagree.

“Your ardent admiration of Kevin completely aside and thrown over a cliff, what does that have to do with -”

“Carlito, it has  _ everything _ to do with it.  Cecil’s scared you’ll turn him over for his brother, who certainly  _ sounds _ much sexier.  If you ask me.”

“Which I didn’t.”

“Fair enough.”  Joaquin leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest.  He had yet to shed his scrubs, and he looked exhausted; for a moment, Carlos felt guilty about the pity party he had been throwing himself over the last few days.  His brother had taken up an awful lot of slack for him, on top of his residency, which sometimes included grueling thirty-hour days.

“Sorry,” he mumbled after a short pause, and his brother waved him off.

“Don’t worry about it.  Ah, to be young again and to feel love’s keen sting,” Joaquin said, and he laughed as Carlos ducked down to grab the pillow and lob it across the table at him.  “In all seriousness, this has gone on long enough.  He’s not mad at you.  He’s mad at Kevin, and he’s mad at himself, and he’s embarrassed, and he’s worried.  You know what you need to do,” he added, leaning across the table confidentially, “is  _ show _ him that you’re not going anywhere.  Telling him isn’t going to do anything in this situation.  He’s got to have physical, undeniable proof that you’re not going anywhere, that you  _ don’t _ prefer Kevin to him - no accounting for taste, I suppose -”  Carlos tried to reach across the table for the pillow again, but his brother pulled it out of reach.  “- and that you’re still in it for the long haul.  Like he is.  Because whether it looks like it or not right now, he definitely is.  The way he’s reacting is proof of that.”

Carlos stared nonplussed at him.  “How do I do that when he won’t even answer my texts?  He sure as hell isn’t going to agree to meet with me anywhere!”  He waved his phone in the air, demonstrating that it remained resolutely silent.

“Easy, little bro.”  A crooked smile bloomed over his face.  “Boombox.  Window.  Romantic Declaration.  Boom.  Easy.  You’ll be fucking by dawn.”

Carlos stared at him, trying to fight the blush he knew was creeping across his face.  “That.  That is your brilliant advice.  A scene from a movie.”

Joaquin shrugged.  “It worked for John Cusack.”

“Doesn’t mean it’ll work for me,” Carlos sighed, staring dejectedly at his still-silent phone.

“Trust me, little brother. It’ll work just fine,” Joaquin assured him, reaching across the table to pat Carlos’ shoulder.

 

Things had never been colder around the shop. Cecil wasn’t talking to Kevin, could barely stand to be in the room with him, which meant that Dana was relegated to the role of glorified messenger pigeon, carrying messages to Kevin when Cecil stubbornly refused to do it. 

“Danaaa!” Cecil called, lifting the needle away from his current customer’s skin and calling for the desk worker. “Can you tell Kevin to stop messing around with my equipment? I don’t know what he’s done to this, but it’s not working right!” Cecil huffed, setting the tattoo machine down and apologising to his client. “I’ll get a replacement one, it’ll be just a moment.” Cecil pushed himself up from his seat and went in search of one of his backups, tucked somewhere around the room; he knew he’d find one soon. “Dana?!” he called over his shoulder, straightening and giving up the search temporarily.

Dana stepped into the little cubby that served as Cecil’s studio, looking disgruntled.  “He says he hasn’t done anything to your machines, or your inks, or any of your things,” she said.  “In fact, he says that he can’t imagine why he would even be in your studio, considering he doesn’t know the first thing about tattooing,” she added in a bored voice that carried the tone of a message learned and delivered by rote.

“That’s not true,” Cecil grumbled.  “He tattooed his own eyeballs, for god’s sake.” He shuddered and moved a stack of papers, sighing when they revealed just a bench and no gun.  He had known it couldn’t possibly be there - he was very careful about where he kept all his equipment - but he felt antsy, needed to move, and searching for a new machine was as good an excuse as any.

“Look, you two need to get over yourselves and make up already,” Dana huffed, stepping around Cecil and digging out an unused gun from under a propped-open art book. “The shop hasn’t ever been this dysfunctional, not even when you started, and you  _ cannot _ keep going on like this.” Dana glared as Cecil ignored her, taking the gun from her hands and checking it over quickly. “ _ Seriously, Cecil, _ ” she hissed, hands on her hips.

“I will ‘get over it’,” Cecil said, fixing Dana with A Look, “when Kevin admits he fucked up and apologises.”

“Great,” Dana snapped.  “While you’re waiting forever, just try and remember that I’m not a carrier pigeon.”  She turned to leave, then seemed to check herself.  The poor person lying back on the table with their shirt rucked up around their ribs seemed bewildered, a little scared, and she flashed them a small smile on her way past.  She said something under her breath, but he was too busy fuming to hear.  

“I don’t need you anyway!” Cecil called after Dana’s retreating back. “Kareem’s much better at carrying messages than you ever were!!” Satisfied with his check-over on the tattoo gun, he turned back to his customer with a thin smile. “I’m so sorry about that. Let’s get back to work, shall we?” Cecil pulled the cord from the first machine and plugged it into the second, attaching it to his foot pedal and testing it a few times before he was satisfied with its sound and function.  He plucked a new set of needles from his kit and roped them into its mouth with rubber bands, testing it once more before nodding and turning back to his client.  “Ready?” he asked, forcing a grin onto his lips.

They looked terrified, but seeing as they were more than half-finished, they nodded.

Cecil threw himself into the tattoo work, focussing on it and it alone, taking in client after client, even the walk-ins off the street who wanted uninspired stock tattoos and would usually be turned away.  He worked through his lunch hour, and then his dinner hour, until finally, Dana marched back into his studio, looking furious.

“Cecil, what the hell are you doing? Is your next tactic to run yourself ragged until you can’t work anymore?” Dana demanded, glaring at Cecil.

He would never say this out loud, but the drone of the tattoo machine drowned out his thoughts, which had been running on the same loop for three days straight.  This was his profession and his passion, and if he could lose himself in it, he could stop thinking about Kevin and Carlos and  _ Kevin, fucking Kevin _ for a while.

“Maybe.” Cecil answered petulantly, turning in his chair so Dana was behind him. “Would it be such a bad thing if I was?”

“Would it be? Of course it would be, Cecil!” Dana spluttered, grabbing Cecil’s shoulder and forcing him to turn back to her. “You need to eat, you need to sleep, you  _ need to talk to Carlos,” _ Dana said forcefully, placing her other hand on Cecil’s other shoulder and keeping him still. “It’s doing you no favours, Cecil. Ignoring Kevin, not talking to Carlos. It’s not doing them any favours either.”  She strode over to one of the counters along the wall, pulling out his phone and thumbing the button that would turn it back on (it had been too nerve wracking to hear Carlos’s ring tone every time he texted, and so he had turned it off while in the studio).  She held it out to him and fixed him with a stare that would have made any clan matriarch proud.  “ _ Call him _ ,” she said.  “And talk to Kevin.  Maybe not now, but this has to stop.”

Cecil took the phone from her hand just as it buzzed to life, the screen filling with notifications of text messages from Carlos - dear Carlos.  ‘Are you okay,’ ‘I’m worried about you,’ ‘Can we meet and talk,’ ‘I miss you.’

A lump seemed to rise in his throat, and Cecil closed the screen on his phone, unable to look at the sweet texts from his sweet, sweet Carlos for fear that tears would start rolling.

“I-” Cecil choked, clicking the screen on again and staring at the notifications still rolling in. “I can’t.” He watched as message previews came and went, always filled with words of concern and care that made Cecil’s heart  _ ache _ . “I don’t-” Cecil’s voice cut off and he had to swallow several times before he could speak, turning to Dana with tears in his eyes. “ _ I don’t deserve him, what have I done?” _

“You’ve fucked up man, but you can fix it. This proves that you can fix it,” Dana said, pulling Cecil up off his seat and ushering him towards the front door. “Maybe start by, you know, responding to his texts, but get some rest before you go to see him.” Cecil nodded, turning his phone screen off and letting Dana lead him out and up the stairs to his apartment.

“Okay, yes. I’ll. That’s a good plan, Dana,” Cecil said, squeezing his phone as it finally stopped buzzing with text notifications. It was a wrench, the end of those vibrations, almost as though Carlos had given up, and though he knew logically that wasn’t the case, it was hard to keep his heart from sinking as he climbed the stairs to his apartment. “Thank you, Dana,” he said, pausing at the top and looking back down to where she’d stopped.

“It’s nothing, Cecil.  I’ll lock up down here. Just,” Dana sighed and shook her head slowly, “take care of yourself. Don’t come back to work until you work things out with Carlos. And maybe Kevin.” Dana gave a half hearted wave and walked away to lock the shop up, leaving Cecil to unlock the door and move through the vacant living space he shared with his brother - Kevin wasn’t there, thank goodness, he had said something about a big skin removal piece, which Cecil really didn’t feel like thinking about. Cecil entered his room, kicking at the door to shut it and falling face-down onto his bed.  He wriggled until his phone was in front of his face, finally unlocking it and scrolling through the steady stream of messages from Carlos, at least one per hour, all along the same vein as before.   _ I don’t deserve him _ , he thought.   _ Sweet, caring, considerate, perfect Carlos _ .  He could have kicked himself from here to Sunday for acting like a child over the last few days, but it wouldn’t do anything to alleviate the situation.

With a sigh, he nudged the keyboard open.

‘I’m here.’

Send.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (brownie points if you noticed the quote from a Jacob Randall poem, which you may recognise most easily from its use in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the movie)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somehow Joaquin had found an actual boombox, a relic from the eighties or something that he’d found in their attic, somewhere behind all the boxes of their parents’ stuff they were yet to sort through, and now Carlos was trying to make it work with his phone, or at least something more modern than a cassette tape. To be honest, converting a cassette player slash radio to a bluetooth speaker was turning out to be a little more complicated than first anticipated, but he knew he would be able to pull it off in the end.
> 
> \--  
> Singing, questions of Science, and One Big Tease

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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The buzz of Carlos’ phone on his desk startled him out of his thoughts, so unexpected was the sound in the silence of his planning. Somehow Joaquin had found an actual boombox, a relic from the eighties or something that he’d found in their attic, somewhere behind all the boxes of their parents’ stuff they were yet to sort through, and now Carlos was trying to make it work with his phone, or at least something more modern than a cassette tape.  To be honest, converting a cassette player slash radio to a bluetooth speaker was turning out to be a little more complicated than first anticipated, but he knew he would be able to pull it off in the end. He  _ had  _ to pull it off in the end. Carlos blinked slowly, his eyes stinging from the amount of time he’d been staring at the mechanical parts, and realised with a start that there was a cup of coffee at his elbow.  It seemed that Joaquin’s investment in his predicament hadn’t ended with offering a ‘solution,’ however insane that solution appeared.  The more he thought about it, actually, the more he thought it might work; Cecil was a dramatic soul, for all that his job required a calm demeanour, and a grand gesture along these lines might actually speak to him far more effectively than a series of text messages.

Then again…

He picked up his phone and opened it from the lock screen, dropping directly into his messages app.  There was one, just one, from Cecil, but it made his stomach leap and his heart thud.  ‘I’m here.’ 

_ Oh thank god, _ Carlos thought in a rush, his blood pounding in his ears.  He fumbled a little with the phone and stared at the screen.  A dozen replies raced through his head, each one feebler than the last.  Caution was the name of the game now; he didn't want to spook Cecil further by pressuring him to meet, or to talk, not yet.  This was a good sign though.  Grace permitting, there would be plenty of time to hash through everything later.  For now, he settled on two words:   _ Me too _ , followed by his favored anatomically-correct heart emoji _. _

He waited for a response, certain that this more relevant text meant that his boyfriend was ready to talk, but his phone remained dark and silent, and after a few more minutes, he returned to his project.  He was almost finished, and as much as he hated to do it, he wanted to run a couple of ideas for the song he would play by his brother before he put their plan into action.  It was Joaquin’s stupid idea; let him pick the song.

...On second hand, don’t.  Just take his suggestions into consideration.  Safer that way.

Tongue stuck out between his teeth, Carlos bent over the inner workings of the boombox, one eye on his phone in the hopes it would buzz and light up again, and part of his mind shuffling through the list of all the even vaguely romantic songs he could name.  There was only one song that came to mind for him, if he was honest with himself, though he wasn’t sure about how suitable it was.  With a sigh, he nudged his glasses up on his nose and leaned closer, squinting to fit the tiny screwdriver in between the circuit boards and wires.  Joaquin would either laugh and say it was brilliant, or laugh and say he was an idiot and suggest and new song.  Either way, it would all work out.  He just had to make it through.  
  


 

Carlos jolted awake in the morning, his phone’s alarm playing almost too loudly right next to his ear and startling him out of his chair. He thudded to the floor and heard his brother’s sharp laughter from down the hall, followed by a shouted message to get ready or they’d be late.

“Late for what?” Carlos asked himself, sliding his glasses from his face and rubbing at his eyes before remembering The Plan, which counted on him getting to the shop before Cecil got up for work. “Oh shit.” Carlos scrambled up off the floor, checking the time and how much charge was left in his phone battery before cramming the front of the dismantled stereo back into place, barely taking the care to make sure the wires were all in place as he screwed the panel back on. 

“Come on, Carlos,” Joaquin said, rapping on Carlos’ door and pushing it open slowly. “We’ve got like ten minutes.” Joaquin’s eyebrows crept up towards his hairline as he took in the mess that was Carlos, rumpled and clearly slept-in clothes and dark circles under his eyes as he blinked at his brother.

“Help?” Carlos asked, gesturing helplessly at the mess of his desk and then himself.

Joaquin sighed and shook his head slowly as he stepped in to check the boombox functions. “You’re gonna owe me big time by the time this is over, little brother,” he said, fiddling with the buttons.

“Okay, fine, no problem,” Carlos said, shucking his wrinkled button-down for a t-shirt he knew for a fact Cecil particularly liked.  It said ‘Chemists do it on the table - periodically’ on the front, with an image of a person sitting coyly on top of the periodic table of elements plastered across his chest.  It was a light purple that went very well against his skin and extremely soft from so many washings and wearings. Carlos glanced over his shoulder to make sure Joaquin wasn’t looking before he dropped his pants and boxers, quickly grabbing a clean pair of each and tripping over himself as he pulled them on in his haste. To finish the outfit Carlos tugged on one of his lab coats and dragged a brush through his hair, straightening his glasses one final time and turning to Joaquin for a check over.

“Does this look okay?” He asked, tugging on the lapels of his coat and shifting awkwardly as his brother looked him over, sniggering at the shirt.

“I mean, yeah? I can’t believe you own that shirt though.” Joaquin smirked, the expression only growing as Carlos’ cheeks flushed. “Is it true? Do you really-”

“ _ Okay _ , that’s enough now, Joaquin! Does the boombox work?” Carlos asked hurriedly, turning away to find a pair of socks and hide from his brother’s suggestive looks.

“Well, it’s kind of a shoddy wiring job, little brother, but it does work. Might not for long, though.” Joaquin sighed, running a hand through his hair. “But we don’t really have time to do more.”

“Yes, I had thought you had mentioned we were in a hurry,” Carlos snapped, hopping from foot to foot as he forced them into the socks he’d found, then into his battered sneakers.

“Yeah, you’ve got about,” Joaquin shook his arm, sliding his watch down his wrist to check the time, “three minutes before it hits breakfast time at the Palmers’.”

“What? Come on! Let’s go then!” Carlos cried, nearly tripping over his laces as he tried to grab the boombox and get out the door.

“Woah, slow down a little speedster. You’re not gonna be any good if you brain yourself before we get there, you know,” Joaquin laughed, taking the boombox from Carlos’ arms and righting his brother before pushing him out the bedroom door and down the hall roughly. 

They sprinted down the street, Carlos stumbling a few times as he tried to keep up with Joaquin’s pace, running ahead with the boombox as he was. They arrived quickly, Carlos doubling over to breathe while Joaquin searched for an appropriate place to set the stereo.  He finally just set it on the bottom step of the stairs leading up to the apartment over the shop, shrugging a little and glancing back to his brother.

“You really need to get in shape, Carlos,” he said, laughing loudly as Carlos just flipped him off and straightened, sucking in a deep breath and fishing his phone out of his pocket.

“Ready?” Carlos asked, nodding at the boombox. Joaquin flipped a switch and gave a thumbs up, spinning the volume dial to its highest and leaning against the wall under Cecil and Kevin’s apartment windows.

Carlos unlocked his phone and turned his bluetooth on, connecting it to the stereo and making his way into his music app to play The Song, already queued and ready to go. Or so he hoped as he pressed the play button as soon as it was presented to him.

What played instead, at first, was not what Carlos had hoped, making him cringe and fumble for the skip button, just to avoid the teasing his brother would give him if he ever found out it was a song about the elements. Carlos skipped past two more songs before giving up and just hitting pause, going back through his music library to find the right song and forcefully ignoring Joaquin’s raised eyebrow.

“Need a hand there?” he asked teasingly, stepping away from the stereo with his hand out to take Carlos’ phone.

“No, I’ve got it, Joaquin,” Carlos snapped, scrolling through his music faster as he spun around, trying to keep the phone away from his brother. Above them Carlos could hear a window open and he sighed. “Get off,” Carlos growled, elbowing Joaquin and finally finding the song he wanted. The element of surprise was gone but he could still make his romantic declaration, right?

“Ohhhhhhh, hi, Carlos!” lilted Kevin’s grating, too-cheerful voice from the window above.  “So nice of you to -”  He was cut off by a clatter and a crunch from the next window over as Cecil slammed his own window open and stuck his head out.

“Carlos?” he asked, voice still thick with sleep as he blinked blearily at the people below him.

“Yeah! Uh, scientifically speaking, that is who I am!” Carlos said, cheeks heating up as he heard Joaquin slap his face into his hand. “Hi Cecil!” Carlos’ voice cracked as he gave his boyfriend a grin and a wave. “Look, I uh, had a thing? I was going to do for you?” Carlos said, shifting uncomfortably as he pointed at his phone. “It was supposed to  be a surprise and go a lot more smoothly that this.” He laughed awkwardly, finding himself unable to stop blabbering now that everyone was watching him.

“Just hit play, idiot.” Joaquin hissed at him.

Kevin leaned half of his body out of the window, trying to look directly down.  “Who else is there?”

Carlos resolutely ignored him, his eyes fixed on Cecil.  “Look, I - I’m not always good with words.  So I thought I’d borrow some.  I - yeah.”  He pressed play on his phone, gentle piano wafted out of the speakers on the stereo.

“No really,” Kevin said, talking loudly and resolutely over the music, making Carlos huff and pause it, glaring at Kevin. “Who else is there with you?”

“Does it  _ really matter _ , Kevin?” Cecil snapped, leaning around to glare at his brother.

“It’s no one, Kevin. Please can you just… go?” Carlos asked, looking between Cecil and his brother.

“Fine,” Kevin said with a pout, withdrawing inside and shutting his window.

“Please,” Cecil said, his eyes soft, spreading his hands in a silent request for him to continue.

Face and ears burning - how had this all gone so  _ wrong _ ? - Carlos felt tears pricking at his eyes as he pressed the play button on his phone’s screen once more.

The music started again, picking up from the place it had left off, leaving Carlos, Cecil and the unwilling Joaquin to listen to a few bars of piano before the words set in, passing unremarked as Carlos swallowed past the lump in his throat, humming along too quietly to be heard by anyone. 

The next few lines came, Carlos pulling himself together enough to look up at Cecil, leaning on his window sill with a soft smile and teary eyes.  He started trying to sing along, not achieving more than just mouthing along at first before his voice came stronger, rough with unshed tears and not very in key from a lifetime of nothing more than shower singing sessions.

“Nobody said it was easy,” Carlos sung, voice shaking and cracking on the high note, resolutely ignoring his brother’s muffled laughter. “It’s such a shame for us to part.” Joaquin looked about to fall down laughing, but Carlos powered through the chorus, ignoring his brother as he had Kevin: this was all for Cecil, to keep hold of the most important part of his life, and everyone else was irrelevant.  “No one ever said it would be this hard; oh, take me back to the start.”

Carlos pushed on, buoyed by Cecil’s soft humming along, his shaking voice evening out, even if he was still off-key. It was the point of it, not how in-tune he was that mattered, Carlos told himself as he continued into the second verse. “I was just guessing, at numbers and figures,” Carlos swayed gently with the tune, grinning up at Cecil and relaxing into the song, only to tense up and falter as Cecil disappeared from the window with no warning. Carlos looked to Joaquin, alarmed and slightly frightened, only slightly helped by the way his brother just shrugged, but waved for Carlos to keep going, mouthing a ‘you can do it’ at him.

“Questions of Science, Science and progress,” Carlos sung, voice reverting quickly back to its shaking and vulnerable form without his boyfriend’s warm looks.

“Do not speak as loud as my heart.” Carlos turned suddenly, eyes finding Cecil standing in the doorway and grinning at Carlos, singing softly where Carlos’ voice had stopped. Carlos’ eyes filled with tears, threatening to spill over as Cecil all but ran down the stairs, catching his scientist in his arms and holding him close, still singing softly into his ear as Carlos lost his hold on the tears and started to sob softly.

“I fucked up, Ceec, I’m sorry,” he gasped against his boyfriend’s shoulder, hands fisting in his shirt as he tried to pull them closer together.

“No, no, my beautiful, sweet Carlos,” Cecil murmured, his arms tightening and fingers tangling into Carlos’ curls.  “I did.  It,” a gusty sigh escaped, ruffling the curls around Carlos’ ear, “it can wait.  But you did nothing wrong.”

And Carlos finally relaxed fully, for the first time in days.  Cecil lifted one had to his cheek, nudging him until their lips met, and Carlos melted against him.  He thought he heard Joaquin making retching noises in the background, but he couldn’t bring himself to care; he was where he belonged now, and there was nothing that mattered more.

“Soooo,” came Kevin’s voice from above them, his window open and the man leaning out of it again. “Do I get to meet our mystery guest now?”

Carlos broke away from Cecil, sighing heavily and glancing sideways at Joaquin. “I suppose.” Carlos stepped back a little from Cecil, wrapping his arm around the other’s waist to keep him close. “Joaquin?”

Joaquin stepped away from the wall, walking up to greet Cecil first. “I’m Joaquin, Carlos’ older brother.”  Kevin’s window slammed shut, and even outside, they could hear the pounding of his footsteps racing towards the front door.

“Older, Christ.” Carlos sighed, leaning into Cecil as he stroked down Carlos’ arms. “By five minutes, he means.” 

“Ooohhhh,” Cecil gasped, eyebrows raising as a grin crept across his face. “Carlos! You never told me  _ you _ were a twin too!”

Glaring at his brother, Carlos grumbled, “With good reason.”

“An older brother? A  _ twin _ ?” Kevin called from the front door now, chest heaving with his breath. “Come here and let me see.” He said, running down the stairs and almost tripping on the final step, only to be caught by Joaquin. “Ooohhhhhh,” Kevin sighed, grinning dreamily at Joaquin and trailing a pair of fingers down his chest. “Wow.”

For his part, Joaquin seemed struck dumb for the first time in his life.  His eyes darted over Kevin’s face as he set him upright and slowly drew his arms away.  “So,” he said huskily.  “You’re Kevin.”

“Oh my god,” Carlos muttered, burying his face in Cecil’s chest.  “I can’t look; tell me when it’s over.”

“Or,” Cecil said, his voice dripping with suggestiveness as his fingers trailed down Carlos’ back to his ass and tightening possessively. “We can make up for missed time.  Don’t worry; we can always lock them out.”

Carlos hesitated, squeezing at Cecil’s waist and chewing on his lip. “Ceec, I would love to...but-”

“You know healing periods only matter if you were going to fuck me,” Cecil interrupted, grinning wickedly as Carlos’ cheeks flushed.

“O-oh,” Carlos stammered, caught between meeting Cecil’s heated gaze and looking away.

“Or there’s always coffee, if you don’t want to,” Cecil offered instead, moving his hand back up to rest on Carlos’ hip.

“Actually, honestly I could go for a nap right now,” Carlos answered, smiling sheepishly and leaning into Cecil’s grip. “I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”

“Dana can open the shop,” Cecil said resolutely, moving away but snagging up Carlos’ hand in the process.  He tugged a little.  “Come on, Darling Carlos.”

So twist his arm:  spend the morning lolling around in bed with his boyfriend, flush with relief, or go back to his own house with his brother, who would soon be waxing rhapsodic about Kevin’s black eyes?  The choice couldn’t be simpler.  They mounted the stairs together, Cecil leading slightly, passing Kevin and Joaquin, who seemed unable to speak through words but were certainly doing well with nonverbal cues, if the way they were pressed up against each other and making bedroom eyes was any indication.

Once inside, Cecil did indeed lock the front door.  “Let ‘em sweat,” he murmured against the shell of Carlos’ ear, sending a warm shiver down his spine.  They kissed languidly on the way to the bedroom with an air of safety and familiarity, helping one another shed their clothes down to their underwear until they were tucked warmly under Cecil’s comforter, Carlos tucked up in the space beneath Cecil’s chin.  They lay in silence for a few long moments, and Carlos felt himself starting to drift off, until Cecil shifted slightly under him.

“Erm...Carlos,” Cecil said, his voice hesitant.

“Mmm.” Carlos hummed, rolling over sleepily and stretching his hand out to touch Cecil’s.

“I was wondering, you know… if I could, maybe…”

God help him, he could practically hear the blush on Cecil’s face.  He yawned hugely, trying to stifle it with the back of his wrist.  “Yeah, babe, what is it?”

“I was wondering if maybe I could see.  You know.  The new piercing.”  The mattress shifted under him as Cecil followed the trajectory of his roll, resting his chin on Carlos’ chest and a hand on his hip, pinky finger edging under the waistband of his boxers.

Carlos rolled his eyes behind his eyelids, humming softly while he found his words. “If you think you can handle it without wanting to kill Kevin,” Carlos muttered eventually, words slurred as he blinked his eyes open to look at Cecil.  “And… it’s still a little swollen, so it’s not exactly pretty at the moment.” 

Cecil let out a little gasp.  “Part of you, not pretty?” he said, indignant, as his fingers trailed along the sensitive skin of Carlos’ hip, slowly working his boxers down over his hips.  “I don’t believe it for a minute.”

Carlos chuckled sleepily, trailing a hand over Cecil’s back to drag through his hair. “You’re sweet. And mildly delusional.” Cecil pressed a loud kiss to Carlos’ chest, his smile being felt against his skin.

“We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?” Cecil giggled, wriggling his hand fully down under Carlos’ waistband and stroking his boyfriend’s thigh.

“Mmhmm looks like we will.” Carlos hummed his agreement, shaking his hips teasingly and nodding for Cecil to go on.

Cecil moved around, taking his hand out of Carlos’ pants to lie between his legs, pressing sweet kisses to Carlos’ hip bones and making the other moan softly and shift, wordlessly asking for more, or less, or for Cecil to keep going. Cecil hooked his fingertips in the top of Carlos’ boxers, tugging at the elastic and signalling for Carlos to lift his hips, just a smidge, so he could get the boxers out of the way.

“Cecil, please,” Carlos whined, his cock stiffening, still trapped in his boxers as he tangled his fingers in Cecil’s hair.

“Patience, dearest.” Cecil hummed, kissing along Carlos’ hips and belly as he tugged his boxers down, inch by inch until the elastic was doing nothing but keeping the head of Carlos’ cock trapped, keeping Cecil from seeing the piercing.

Carlos sighed heavily, tipping his chin up to the ceiling and groaning through his teeth as Cecil kissed his way along Carlos’ shaft, licking and nibbling gently as he went. “Ready to show me Carlos?”

“God Cecil,” Carlos moaned, looking down the length of his body and fixing his boyfriend with a heavy look. “Please do  _ something more than this,” _ he hissed, pushing his hips upwards slightly and whining as Cecil pulled away.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Cecil said, smirking teasingly.

Cecil gasped as he tugged the elastic down the final inch, freeing Carlos’ dick and giving Cecil a free view of his perfect length, the piercing sitting snugly against the base of his head and making Cecil’s mouth water.

“ _ Oh.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Hey where were my start of the chapter notes??' I hear you ask.  
> The answer is they're here! And They're here because there is a Spoilery Disclaimer that I would like to address that I didn't want to put at the start.  
> And That Disclaimer is that: You SHOULD NOT ever partake in any kind of sexual activity with a genital piercing until the healing time is up!! That's Right Kiddos! Not Even Jerking Off!!  
> We have decided to take liberties with it because Who Are We Kidding we all want Cecil and Carlos to make up with a huge fuckfest amirite?  
> just yknow, dont do what Carlos does, you'll prolly end up with an infection or something.
> 
> That done, The song lyrics are from The Scientist by Coldplay, and this chapter also makes reference to The Elements Song by Tom Lehrer  
> The shirt Carlos is wearing [Looks Like This](http://crocktees.spreadshirt.com/chemists-do-it-on-the-table-A6026089)  
> Honorable Mentions for the song Carlos Sings include: Home, by Edward Sharp and The Magnetic Zeros, and Yellow by Coldplay
> 
> As always this has been brought to you by me, [lonelyboyinthelab/pageofd](http://lonelyboyinthelab.tumblr.com) and this _phenomenal_ rock star of a writer [oh-fanon-my-canon/Aleph_null](http://oh-fanon-my-canon.tumblr.com)  
>  Until next time!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Lie back for me, would you?” Cecil said, taking a moment to wash his hands in the sink in the corner, then pulling on a fresh pair of gloves. When he turned back, it was to the sight of Carlos lying on his left side, his right arm pulled in close to his chest. He took up the stencil that would form the base of Carlos’ new tattoo and fitted it loosely to the skin of his abdomen, just under the ribs. “You should undo your pants,” Cecil added. “Just enough to show your hip, maybe.”  
> \-----  
> Nearly One Year Later, Cecil shows his appreciation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay look so  
> this is definitely the last part of this story (if not for more stories with this AU and these depictions of the characters) HOWEVER  
> there is a little smut-shot coming with Kevin and Joaquin after this which is A) fantastic, B) written entirely by PageofD and C) not for the faint of heart. He'll be including warnings, but it is super kinky and possibly disturbing.
> 
> That out of the way, here is a finale with some Cecilos fluff and a lot of smut and which definitely didn't get away from us.  
> As always, if you'd like to help us find the exact ratio of dark magic and coffee that allows tattoos to become sentient, please leave a review or some kudos, it directly adds money to our bank accounts through arcane magic.  
> And hey.  
> Thank you So Much.

The shop was dark and quiet outside of Cecil’s little cubicle.  They had closed early tonight, since Kevin had buggered off somewhere to spend ‘quality time’ with Joaquin, and they never got much business on a Sunday night anyway.  

Besides, tonight was special.

Cecil had sent Kareem home early and begun preparing for his favourite client, putting out small caps on a paper towel and setting a few bottles of ink beside them, pulling out his favourite tattoo machine - the one with stickers of cats on the grip, worn almost white from its years of use - and sterilising it carefully before setting it on its own paper towel.  He was just looking over the needles he had selected when he heard a soft  _ click _ and the bell over the front door jingle.

He smiled calmly, even though his heart was racing in his chest, and reached over to tap ‘play’ on his phone.  The playlist he had created specifically for this occasion started up, the notes wafting through the stereo turned bluetooth speaker that Carlos had gifted him; in spite of Joaquin’s insistence to the contrary, it was still working fine several months after its modification.  He used it now in the shop while working with clients who weren’t inclined to talk, and sometimes told the story of its procurement.  It usually got a laugh, even if it was quickly stifled to keep his needle steady on their skin.

A quiet knock came from the door frame leading into his studio, and his smile widened as he started to turn, but a pair of warm arms wrapped around his chest from behind and arrested his movement.  “I’m sorry, sir,” Carlos said in his ear, his breath gusting hot over Cecil’s flesh.  “Are you closed?

Cecil, humming, wriggled to loosen the embrace and turned so they were facing each other.  “For you, I could make an exception.”  He planted a little kiss on the tip of Carlos’ nose.  “How was your day?”

Laughing, Carlos released him, fingers trailing down Cecil’s arms and joining their fingers at the end.  “Better, now I’m here with you.”  He leaned forward and pressed their lips together, bumping his boyfriend’s lower back up against the counter and taking full advantage of its stability to mate their bodies, one hard line from chest to hip to thigh.  For all the aggression of his body language, the kiss was sweet, chaste, more of an expression of warmth than desire.  “How was yours?” Carlos asked against his lips, pulling back slightly so they could both regain their balance.

“Better, now Kevin’s gone and you’re here,” Cecil said, teasing a little.  He shook one hand out of Carlos’ grip and raised it to comb through his boyfriend’s beautiful, unruly hair, escaping from its low bun.

Carlos barked out a laugh.  “I have the feeling he’ll be staying at my house tonight,” he said, sounding a little grumpy.  “I hope you don’t mind if I stay over here; I’d rather not listen to them together all night long again.”

“Good news, then,” Cecil said, deadpan.  “I just got bunk beds.  I call top bunk.”

Carlos laughed again, then stared at him, suddenly sombre.  “You’re not serious.”

God help him, he couldn’t tease his Carlos - not about something like that, anyway.  He grinned.  “Of course not.”  He clapped a hand over his boyfriend’s ass, but released it fairly quickly.  It was possible there would be time for that later, but -

Before he could get sidetracked, Cecil motioned to the table in the middle of the room.  Carlos took his seat obediently, pulling his t-shirt over his head without the air of self-consciousness he had borne when he’d come in for his first piece.  With a surge of pride and not a little possessiveness, Cecil’s eyes danced over all the little tattoos he’d done for his boyfriend, his fingerprints pressed indelibly into the flesh Carlos wore every day.

“Lie back for me, would you?” Cecil said, taking a moment to wash his hands in the sink in the corner, then pulling on a fresh pair of gloves.  When he turned back, it was to the sight of Carlos lying on his left side, his right arm pulled in close to his chest.  He took up the stencil that would form the base of Carlos’ new tattoo and fitted it loosely to the skin of his abdomen, just under the ribs.  “You should undo your pants,” Cecil added.  “Just enough to show your hip, maybe.”

With a grin and a gleam in his eye, Carlos did as he was told, shimmying until his jeans and underwear were halfway down his hips, revealing skin that made Cecil’s mouth go dry.  He cleared his throat and cleaned the skin, wiping at it tenderly with a paper towel and soap solution, the hitches in Carlos’ breath indicating he wasn’t the only one with something else on his mind.

The stencil was fairly simple, mostly just a guideline at this point, since the end piece was supposed to appear nebulous and amorphous - appropriate, as it was based on a nebula.  He applied it carefully, smoothing it to his boyfriend’s still-damp skin, and let it set a moment before carefully peeling it back, checking that the lines were in place - it was almost like a temporary tattoo, in that if he worked too impatiently, it wouldn’t take, and they’d have to start over.

Though, said a little voice in the back of his head, he could certainly spend hours with his hands on Carlos’ body.  That was no hardship.

“Okay,” Cecil said, leaning back and pulling away the empty stencil backing.  “Do you want to take a look?”

Carlos twisted slightly on the table, eyeing the full-length mirror behind him, then sat up and stretched his arms over his head.  “I love it already,” he said, locking his eyes onto Cecil’s.

He couldn’t stand it anymore.  Though he had no intention of interrupting this gift to his boyfriend, he couldn’t resist standing straight, moving between Carlos’ knees, tipping his chin up, capturing his lips hungrily.

Carlos hummed softly, surprised but happy to go with it, pressing forwards against his boyfriend’s body and wrapping his arms around his waist as they kissed. Cecil’s hunger was infectious, making Carlos shiver as he nibbled on Cecil’s lip, shifting closer to the edge of the table and hooking a leg around Cecil’s hips, pulling him closer with a soft groan.

Cecil rolled his hips forward and ran his hands down Carlos’ body, settling them against his ribs and pausing, thumb rubbing against the stencil on his side gently. The kiss broke, Carlos breathing raggedly as he fisted Cecil’s shirt, pressing their foreheads together.

“Ceec?” he asked, brow furrowing in concern. 

Cecil chuckled softly, dragging his fingers down Carlos’ side and grinning as he shivered. “It seems we got a bit sidetracked,” he said, grinning crookedly as Carlos’ frown smoothed into gentle smile.

“Mm it seems we have.” Carlos chuckled, pushing up to press his lips to Cecil’s again. “Will that be a  _ problem? _ ” he teased, waggling his eyebrows as he used his leg, still hitched around Cecil’s waist, to pull his boyfriend closer again.

Cecil gasped softly, his eyes fluttering shut as he leaned forwards, hands grabbing at Carlos’ hips as their lips brushed lightly. “Carlos,” he sighed, his breath catching as Carlos pressed closer, humming softly, still smiling widely. 

“Yeah, babe?” 

Cecil groaned and broke, catching Carlos’ lips with his and kissing his boyfriend with a raw hunger he rarely showed outside the bedroom. His hands pulled at Carlos’ hips as his teeth sank into the other’s lower lip and tugged, gulping down Carlos’ surprised moan as Cecil rutted forwards.

Carlos tugged at Cecil’s shirt, pulling at the hem and lifting it to press his hands against his skin, dragging his fingers around to cling to Cecil’s back as he pressed his hips up against Cecil’s, revelling in the low sounds of Cecil’s moans as they rocked against each other, all thoughts of tattooing gone from their minds.

The next time their kiss broke was for Cecil to tug his shirt off, throwing it into the corner without a second glance as he surged forwards, moaning as he pressed his body to Carlos’, seeking out his boyfriend’s lips as their hands roamed over each other’s skin, fingers and nails digging in and dragging, leaving red lines in their wake and pleasured hisses filling the air.

“ _ Fuck,  _ Cecil,” Carlos groaned, hands skimming down to Cecil’s hips and pulling them closer, rolling his hips forwards and whining when he found it still wasn’t enough, hands scrabbling for Cecil’s belt, desperation getting the better of him. 

“Shhh, slowly, Carlos,” Cecil shushed, smoothing his hands down Carlos’ back even while his legs were trembling, his chest heaving with breath and his heart aching with want. Carlos eventually got Cecil’s belt undone, immediately moving on to the artist’s fly and pushing his jeans down and out of the way, hands trembling and making it harder to work.

“Cecil,  _ please,”  _ Carlos begged, tugging Cecil close as he choked on his words, desperate and turned on and  _ wanting _ . “I need you, please.”

“I know, I know Carlos. You can have me, all of me.” Cecil soothed, kissing Carlos slowly, gently, smiling and pressing close. “I’m right here, Carlos, bunny.” 

Carlos nodded, raised shaking hands to rub at his eyes, and smiled. “I know, I’m sorry Ceec. I know, it’s just-” Carlos rocked his hips forwards, throwing his head back with a low moan, hands grabbing for Cecil. “I want- God, Cecil-” Carlos faltered, words running out as he cupped the back of Cecil’s head, pulling his down until their foreheads were pressed together and their lips brushing as Carlos panted. “It’s been too long, god I missed this, I need to-” Cecil pressed downwards, kissing Carlos hard and cutting him off, stopping his boyfriend’s thoughts in their tracks as he reached for his fly, finishing off what Carlos had started before moving on to his pants.

“I know, I understand, Carlos, I understand.” Cecil panted breathlessly, fumbling Carlos’ fly and working his hand into his boyfriend’s underwear, stroking and teasing at Carlos’ dick as he shuddered and moaned to the ceiling, one hand supporting as he tipped backwards, the other still hooked around Cecil’s head, pulling his boyfriend down with him.

“Cecil, god.  _ Please,” _ Carlos sobbed, pushing his hips into Cecil’s hand, all but riding his boyfriend’s palm to a shivering, shuddering completion, slumping back onto the table with a soft noise.

Cecil followed Carlos’ collapse, tugging his hand out of his pants gently and stroking at his sides, hushing him and kissing along his neck to his cheeks, kissing away Carlos’ overwhelmed tears.

“I’m sorry, that’s uh, kind of embarrassing.” Carlos huffed at the ceiling, cheeks flushed and voice rough with tears as he avoided looking at Cecil.

“It’s okay Carlos, it happens to the best of us.” Cecil hummed, trailing a finger along the stencil on Carlos’ ribs. “After all, how long has it been?”

Carlos snorted, thumping his fist on the table, trying very hard not to show how upset he really was at his inability to last.  “Like you haven’t been counting down with me.”

“Hmm.”  Cecil splayed his fingers over Carlos’ side, gripping at the ample flesh there.  The stencil was nigh on ruined, but he didn’t mind so much at the moment.  “We’ve got plenty of time, Darling Carlos.  I’m not going anywhere.”  He pressed his lips to his boyfriend’s belly and only shifted slightly, trying to relieve the pressure in his own jeans without alerting Carlos.  He should have known better.

“Cecil,” said Carlos softly, touching his cheek with two fingers and urging him to look up.  “Will you -”  A dark flush crossed his face.  “No, I can’t, sorry.  Here, let me -”  He made to sit up, but Cecil put a gentle palm on his chest, keeping him in place.

“Anything for you,” he said, his voice rumbling deep in his chest.  “What do you want?”

Carlos closed his eyes and screwed up his face like he was trying to get something unpleasant out of the way.  “Will you - willyoutouchyourselfohgod,” he said quickly, lifting his hands to cover his face.

A wicked grin crossed Cecil’s lips, a hungry, slavering thing.  “And let you watch?”

Carlos peeked through his fingers and nodded.  “And let me watch,” he affirmed in a small voice.

Cecil didn’t respond, not with words.  He stood languidly, his fingers tripping over Carlos’ skin until they met his own hips and rode upwards as though on a current, running over his own body and imagining they were his lover’s.  He hummed softly as his fingers caressed his own skin, tracing delicate paths up to his neck and back down, one palm coming to rest on his ribcage, the other on his hip.  His fingers danced into the waist of his underwear, teasing lightly, but the sight of Carlos, watching rapt, spread out, debauched on his work table, had his hand diving in and shoving fabric out of the way with unexpected urgency.  He took another step back, the better to be seen, and took himself in hand, stroking slowly.  Carlos’ eyes followed his hand intently, like a cat with a laser toy, his mouth falling open when Cecil curled his palm around his head and let out a rough groan, pinching at his own nipple and sighing up at the ceiling.

“Christ,” Carlos whispered, and his voice sent a warm shock rippling through Cecil’s body, centering on his cock.  Another moan escaped as his hips jerked forward involuntarily, thrusting into his hand wildly for just a moment before remembering himself.  This wasn’t a tease, but it  _ was _ for Carlos, and he wanted to put on a good show.  So, still stroking himself lightly, he took a couple of steps closer, until he was very nearly touching Carlos’ knees with his thighs.

“What would you like me to do, Carlos?”  When no answer came but a squeak, he changed tacks.  “What would  _ you _ do to me?” Cecil asked, voice pitched low just to make Carlos squirm.

“U-uh.” Carlos stammered, eyes focussed on the way that Cecil was still stroking himself, smearing glistening drops of pre around the head of his dick.

“Would you stroke me, like this? Or maybe take a more teasing route?” Cecil continued, eyes sliding shut as he loosened his grip until his fingers were just barely gliding over his cock, making him shudder and groan. “Oh, I don’t think I can stand that for too long, Carlos. Maybe you’d try to be clever, sneak a hand around for another angle?” Carlos gulped loudly as he watched Cecil reach around behind him, heard the moan of a finger pressing against Cecil’s hole, dry and probably uncomfortable if he pressed it in too much, but almost heavenly as just a pressure. “C-Carlos, good lord.” Cecil moaned, blinking his eyes open and looking down at Carlos, at the way his flush was spreading down his chest and his cock was making a valiant attempt to get hard again as Cecil closed his hand more firmly around his own, tugging with a purpose now rather than to tease himself.

“Ceec, god you’re so hot right now.” Carlos murmured, voice low and reverent as he watched Cecil tip his head back and moan loudly, his hips jolting forwards as he moaned Carlos’ name.  Carlos reached out, touching just the tip of Cecil’s cock, only to have his boyfriend jerk away, a smile playing on his lips.

“ _ Tell me _ ,” Cecil whispered.

“God, I don’t know Cecil I just, I want to touch you, please  _ let me touch you _ ,” Carlos whined, hands balled into fists against his thighs.

Cecil tutted, shaking his head and swallowing a moan. “You wanted to watch, so you  _ will _ watch, my dearest Carlos.”  His hand sped up, and with it his breath, his cock bobbing along with his adam’s apple as he swallowed hard at the look on his boyfriend’s face, equal parts lust and frustration and wonder as he stared at Cecil.

“I want - oh christ - I want you to come for me,” Carlos said, his eyes locked on the motion of Cecil’s hand.  Cecil made an encouraging noise and quickened his pace, his breath coming hard, his eyes half-closed in ecstasy.  “I want you to  _ scream my name _ ,” Carlos breathed, his hand trailing down to his own half-hard cock, toying with the barbell just behind his head.

Cecil nodded frantically, all but drooling as he panted, watching Carlos touch himself while he watched Cecil with the intense kind of focus usually reserved for science or new designs for his skin. Cecil shivered under Carlos’ gaze, his eyes slipping shut again as his hips twitched, his strokes becoming uneven as he reached the edge, stuttering and stumbling towards the line.

“ _ Come on, come for me Cecil,” _ Carlos hissed, touching himself more firmly as Cecil gave a full-bodied shudder and came, tipping his head back and screaming Carlos’ name, his voice cracking and shredding and Carlos knew it would be rough for days to come.

And then he collapsed to his knees, pressing his cheek against the inside of Carlos’ thigh, breathing hard and paying no mind to the mess they had both just made.  His eyes were closed tight, and Carlos ran his fingers through his hair gently, soothing and cooing as his boyfriend came down shaking.  “My lovely Cecil,” he murmured, smoothing the hair back from his forehead.

Cecil opened one eye and glanced up at him.  “My beautiful Carlos,” he answered, and then he caught sight of Carlos’ dick, half-hard again.  He chuckled gustily.  “At this rate, we may never finish right,” he said.

“You can never finish wrong,” Carlos said, leaning almost double to press a kiss to the top of Cecil’s head.

Cecil hummed and nuzzled the flesh of Carlos’ thigh, grinning.  “We never started your tattoo.”

“That’s okay.  There’s plenty of time, like you said.”

“Of course.”  Cecil planted his chin on Carlos’ knee, gazing up at him.  “Well, happy anniversary anyway.”

Carlos stared at him blankly.  “Happy what?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please come screaming into our voids:
> 
> [Lonelyboyinthelab](http://lonelyboyinthelab.tumblr.com)
> 
> [oh-fanon-my-canon](http://oh-fanon-my-canon.tumblr.com) 
> 
> and hey
> 
> the shortest distance between two points is a straight line


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Stay still,” Joaquin snapped, grabbing Kevin’s chin roughly and forcing him to face forwards again. “Or else I’ll have to get the harness out too, and you don’t want that, do you, pet?” He grinned down at Kevin, watching the way his cock twitched and precome drooled out, making Joaquin lick his lips slowly, deliberately, drinking in Kevin’s whines as he strained against his bonds. “Or maybe you’d like that too much. Disgusting creature.” Joaquin sneered, turning away so he could take a moment to grin in private without breaking the scene.
> 
> \--  
> Chances are this is the most fucked up smut you'll see all week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay  
> *pulls out a list  
> Here is a list of Warnings.  
> Bloodplay, Medical Kink, BSDM, Knife Play, Dissection/disemboweling kink? and bondage.  
> Basically its Kinda Messed Up, but dw i wont kinkshame.  
> I'm the one that wrote it after all haha

Kevin hissed, throwing his head to the side as Joaquin sliced into him, light and delicate, each cut a pure work of art that would be permanently decorating Kevin’s skin.

“Stay still,” Joaquin snapped, grabbing Kevin’s chin roughly and forcing him to face forwards again. “Or else I’ll have to get the harness out too, and you don’t want that, do you, pet?” He grinned down at Kevin, watching the way his cock twitched and precome drooled out, making Joaquin lick his lips slowly, deliberately, drinking in Kevin’s whines as he strained against his bonds. “Or maybe you’d like that too much. Disgusting creature.” Joaquin sneered, turning away so he could take a moment to grin in private without breaking the scene.

Kevin moaned so beautifully when Joaquin turned back, his back arching and pressing his chest forwards, nipple clamps swinging with the movement and making Kevin whine more, his eyes begging to be touched by something other than the scalpel Joaquin had been using to leave red, bleeding lines all over his boyfriend’s skin.

“Colour?”

“Green, doctor.” Kevin answered obediently, tilting his face into Joaquin’s hand as his cheek was cupped.

“Good.” Joaquin cooed, stroking Kevin’s scarred cheek and leaning in to press the briefest of kisses to his lips before pulling away. “Now to find the  _ true cause _ of your depravity, we need to dig deeper. I’m going to have to cut you open, take you  _ completely apart _ and see just where things went wrong.” Joaquin smirked as Kevin moaned loudly, tipping his head back and thrusting his hips as far up as his restraints would allow him to.

“ _ Please _ .” Kevin whined, eyes fluttering shut as his cock weeped.

Joaquin stepped forwards and slapped Kevin across the cheek sharply, trying to ignore the other’s desperate whine as his head was forcefully turned, and the way it made his cock twitch in his jeans. “You will  _ only _ speak when I ask you a question. Otherwise the gag comes out, and I  _ know _ how much you hate it.” Joaquin hissed, trailing his fingers along Kevin’s chest to tug on one of the nipple clamps.

“Yes, doctor,” Kevin moaned, throwing his head back and grinning, all but howling as Joaquin trailed his fingers down further to tease at his cock, swirling his fingertips through the precome dripping down its sides.

“ _ Good. _ ” Joaquin hummed, raising the fingers to his lips and licking the pre off them, smirking as Kevin watched and eyeing the way his throat bobbed. “Now. I’m going to dissect you. Colour?”

“Green, dear God, so green, doctor,” Kevin babbled, pushing his chest out again and moaning as Joaquin dragged the scalpel down the pre-drawn line along the middle of Kevin’s chest, just enough to tease at first and then harder, cutting into the skin and leaving a gorgeous, clean cut behind.

The wound started bleeding instantly, dribbling blood down the length of Kevin’s body, pooling in the creases of his hips and dripping off him to the sheet beneath. Joaquin poked around the length of the cut, his mouth watering as he inhaled the iron tang of his boyfriend’s blood, playing like he was poking around at Kevin’s internal organs.

“Hmmm, interesting.” Joaquin hummed, unable to resist and leaning in to press his lips to Kevin’s chest, tongue licking out and lapping up some of the blood, sending shivers down both their spines. “There’s nothing wrong here. Everything is where and how it should be. Must be a problem somewhere further down.”

Joaquin straightened, adjusting the lapels of a lab coat he definitely didn’t borrow from his brother, and lined his scalpel up for the next cut, dragging it horizontally across Kevin’s stomach, mind filling in for the lack of blood spurting over his blade and bowels spilling out in glorious technicolour, making him moan low and long and pause in his cut to breathe.

“Doctor?” Kevin asked, voice shaking and body shuddering as Joaquin surged upwards to kiss him, cupping his cheeks and biting into Kevin’s lip hungrily.

“ _ Fuck Kevin, _ ” Joaquin hissed, throwing his scalpel across the room and all but falling onto his bed, pulling Kevin into his lap and rolling his hips upwards. “You’re so fucking-” Joaquin broke off with a moan, perching Kevin in his lap and fumbling for his belt, holding Kevin up by the thighs so he could kick his pants off.

Kevin pushed his hips forwards, desperately seeking friction on his dick, trying to rub it anywhere against Joaquin only to find himself limited by his restraints again and whining as Joaquin touched him just about everywhere else.

“Joaquin, Chimo,  _ please.” _ Kevin whined, tipping his head back with a cry as Joaquin pulled the nipple clamps off, replacing them with his mouth and fingers, biting and pinching at the abused flesh as he rutted his hips against Kevin’s ass.

“Patience, pet. You’ll get to finish soon enough.” Joaquin chided, tipping them over so Kevin was laid on his back, knees falling apart to make room for his boyfriend’s body as he whined and squirmed, trying to seek pleasure from Joaquin who was a master at denying it.

Joaquin palmed at Kevin’s thighs, digging his nails into them as he rubbed himself off against Kevin’s ass, teasing him with occasional pressure against his balls or hole, but not enough for Kevin to get off, leaving him all but crying out of frustration as Joaquin moaned, taunting his freedom and chasing his climax with more and more desperation as he got closer to it.

“Kevin, Christ, you’re so hot you know?” Joaquin muttered, always one to run his mouth in bed. “Let me do everything to you,  _ enjoy it too, fuck _ .” Joaquin’s hips stuttered, his words trailing off into a low growl as he came, spilling over the sunny orange ropes binding Kevin’s legs together and huffing, panting, coming down and pressing kisses to every inch of Kevin’s skin he could reach and finally, sitting up, pulling a pouty Kevin upright with him.

“ _ Joaquin _ ,” Kevin huffed, close to whining as he shifted in his bonds.

“Let me catch my breath, pet.” Joaquin said, smoothing his hands over Kevin’s shoulders and sides, down his legs and across his hips, making Kevin hiss and moan as Joaquin’s hands passed over each and every fresh wound he’d made, smearing blood across Kevin’s body.

Joaquin sank to his knees at the side of the bed, pulling Kevin over to the edge by the ropes around his legs and barely giving his boyfriend time to anticipate what was coming next as he closed his lips around Kevin’s cock, swallowing the whole length in one go and making Kevin scream.

Joaquin pulled off with a loud pop, grinning at Kevin’s stream of curses as he went back down, slower this time, swirling his tongue around the head of Kevin’s gorgeous cock and drinking down his pre almost as soon as it had dripped from the tip.

“Chimo, God, Joaquin, please, more please,” Kevin begged, trying to get closer to Joaquin and that mouth, pressing his hips up the small amount he could. Joaquin swallowed around Kevin, humming softly and revelling in the twitch and moan Kevin gave, his eyes rolling back in his head as he sobbed wordlessly, body growing taut as Joaquin raised his hand to trace his nails, feather-light, over Kevin’s balls, grinning as Kevin took a final shuddering breath and spilled into his mouth.

Joaquin swallowed slowly, watching Kevin jolt with the movement of his throat, and pulled off, kissing at the shaft of Kevin’s cock, slick with spit and come, and cataloguing Kevin’s every shift and shudder and caught breath.

“Chimo, please.” Kevin whined, trying to shift away as he panted.

“Sorry, pet.” Joaquin murmured, pressing a kiss to Kevin’s knee and sitting back. “Do you want me to untie you?” He asked, hands hovering over the knots keeping Kevin restrained.

Kevin thought for a moment, chewing his lip before shaking his head firmly, then again faster. “No, I’d just… come here?” He asked, beckoning with a single finger until Joaquin crawled up onto the bed and curled around him. 

“This better?” Joaquin asked, pressing his cheek to Kevin’s shoulder and stroking down his side.

“Yes, for now. Thank you.” Kevin grinned, turning his head to kiss Joaquin over his shoulder, humming happily as Joaquin nipped gently at his lips.

“Anything you want, Kevin, my pet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm [lonelyboyinthelab](http://lonelyboyinthelab.tumblr.com) he's [oh-fanon-my-canon](http://oh-fanon-my-canon.tumblr.com) and Thank You for joining us through this adventure.  
> We  
> Appreciate   
> You  
> <3

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Night Vale's First Ever Scientist](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8529793) by [lesbianoodle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianoodle/pseuds/lesbianoodle)




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